


Haircut

by ifonlyiwaswittier



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Gen, Hair, Hurt/Comfort, Nonbinary Character, Nonbinary Hange Zoë, basically just a whole lot of sadness, hair cuts and not the alcoholic kind
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-16
Updated: 2017-10-16
Packaged: 2019-01-18 03:41:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12380151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ifonlyiwaswittier/pseuds/ifonlyiwaswittier
Summary: Hanji laughs again and it makes Levi feel glad. The two sit in silence until he runs the comb through their hair without any snags and asks, “How would you like it cut?”Hanji shrugs. “I don’t care. I just want it short.”(In which Levi cuts off all of Hanji's hair and it's a surprisingly emotional experience.)





	Haircut

**Author's Note:**

> Set after Chapter 84 so, you know, very light spoilers for a certain someone's death. (But I mean, are there any anime-only fans who haven't had this spoiled for them yet? Tbh, I'd be shocked.)
> 
> Also, generally I hate it when author's preface their work with a little headcanon you need to know to get a part of the story but-
> 
> I am a firm believer, for absolutely no good reason besides the fact that I like it, that Hanji can't draw for shit and that Moblit did all of their scientific sketches for them. If you don't like this, it's just a tiny throw away line in the story so you'll live.

Levi looks up from his book, surprised by the familiar knock on his door. It wasn’t that he didn’t know Hanji didn’t sleep much either (but, honestly, who did these days), but… well, they didn’t visit each other’s quarters much anymore. Things just weren’t like that now.

He opens the door to find Hanji, hair dripping wet, holding a pair of scissors. It wasn’t raining, the dry season had been unseasonably long this year, so it must mean that-

“Seems like you’re finally getting better at bathing yourself, Shitty Glasses,” Levi smirks, stepping out of the way to let Hanji in. 

“I want to cut my hair,” Hanji says, going to the hardback chair Levi had been reading in, offering the scissors to Levi. They seem tired. They always do these days.

(Sometimes he misses how full of life they used to be.)

“Sit down,” Levi offers, taking the scissors. “Did you bring a comb?”

Hanji shakes their head as Levi mutters “Of course not” and grabs a comb of his own. They lean their head over the back of their chair with a small sigh.

(Levi looks at their exposed throat. They look paler than he remembers. Suddenly, he feels scared.)

As gently as possible, Levi takes down Hanji’s hair and begins to work out the knots. “How do you managed to get it so tangled. It's a fucking rat’s nest.”

Hanji huffs a laugh. “At least I washed it for you.”

(They seemed so goddamn tired.)

“I hope you used soap,” Levi mumbles. Hanji laughs again and it makes him feel glad. The two sit in silence until he runs the comb through their hair without any snags and asks, “How would you like it cut?”

Hanji shrugs. “I don’t care. I just want it short.”

Levi can’t help but be surprised. Hanji has never wanted him to do anything more than trim their hair. “How short? Like Mikasa short?” He tries to imagine them with hair like Nifa’s, like Nanaba’s. 

(It’s been so long it doesn’t hurt too bad to think about it but to say it out loud would be too much.)

Hanji shrugs again, “Like Erwin short.”

(But that- that hurts so bad that Levi thinks his heart may have stopped but instead he shrugs it off and snarkily remarks-)

“You’re not going to start parting it to the side with gel, right?”

Another huff of laughter. “Of course not, I could never pull it off. Just cut my damn hair, asshole.”

Levi knows they can hear the tension in his voice, they’ve known him too long to not, but he does his best to hide it anyway and says “Take off your eyepatch, you cyclops.”

(Sometimes Hanji’s eye patch still catches him off guard. He would never admit it but sometimes he forgets that they’re not kids anymore and he’ll feel an all too familiar twinge in his bad leg or he’ll walk through the near empty headquarters and the sound of his footsteps will echo just a little too much or he’ll see  _ Hanji’s goddamn eyepatch _ and it can be so fucking hard).

And they do, revealing a long scar and a dull unseeing eye. They’ve never been self concious about it, which Levi admires.

He starts by trimming at the bottoms, the hair gently falling to the floor.

(If anyone asked, he would say it was to give Hanji time to back out. But really he’s buying himself time to come up with his own excuses.)

“Come on, just do it.” Hanji blurts out after a while of this charade. 

(Sometimes they still sound like their old self and Levi hates that he’s clinging on to something,  _ someone _ , that isn’t really there anymore, that will never be there again-)

Levi grabs Hanji’s hair in a ponytail. With the dull pair of scissors Hanji brought, it takes more than one go but eventually Levi is holding a fistful of Hanji’s hair in shock.

“Let me see.”

So Levi reaches around Hanji’s head to present the ponytail to them and they laugh-

( _They_ _  fucking laugh. _ )

And they sound so tired but so relieved. For some reason, the sound takes a weight of Levi’s chest.

They’re smiling. “Good.”

The two sit in silence as Levi fixes his initial hack job. Levi does his best and they look good, they really do, but they look nothing like Erwin.

(Levi isn’t sure if he wants them to look like Erwin.)

“I’m done. Go to the mirror and see if you like it.”

Hanji runs a hand through their hair. “I’m sure it looks fine.” They’re smiling but it’s that smile that Levi knows is meant to hide sadness. He isn’t sure what they’re sad about so he says nothing.

Standing, Hanji says (a propos to nothing, because some things never change) “I think I’m going to start grooming Armin to be the next head of Survey Corps Sciences, pick up the slack I’ve left.”

Levi quirks an eyebrow. “I would have thought you’d be grooming him to be the next commander.”

“Hopefully we won’t need another commander after me.” Hanji is watching something far off.

(Levi wishes he could see it too.)

“But yes, also to be commander,” Their lips upturn in a small smile, “Only problem is that he can’t draw for shit either.”

“Guess we’ll have to find him a Moblit of his own.”

There is a long pause.

“Maybe you should get Armin to let me cut his hair next,” Levi adds after a while. This is just how they are now. Hanji is more serious, more withdrawn. Levi finds himself having to fill the silences. “Hair past his shoulders? It’s going to get caught in his gear.”

Hanji self consciously runs a hand through their hair, surprised by how little of it there is. “I guess I’ll give him all my old hair clips.”

Levi scoffs, holding out the scissors for Hanji to take. “Let me get back to my book, Shitty Glasses.”

“Oh? What’s it about?” And for a second Levi sees that old spark in Hanji’s eyes.

(He wants nothing more to indulge it, to tell them all about the novel he’s reading. It’s about a man alone at sea, who’s tired and scared but most of all alone- but he knows he can’t because that would be the worst betrayal of all.)

So instead he rolls his eyes and says “It’s about Titan guts. Now get out.”

The spark stays in their eyes for just a second longer that Levi expected. It makes him glad. As Levi follows Hanji to the door, going to lock it behind them, Hanji suddenly turns around, looking almost frantic. They grab his shoulders and say,

“Thank you, Levi.”

Levi wishes he knew what they were thanking him for.


End file.
